Wellington polo mogul John Goodman's Friday sentencing on his DUI-manslaughter conviction now hangs on the words of a juror who conducted a drinking experiment the night before voting guilty.

Palm Beach Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath, who is set to decide a prison sentence up to 30 years, issued an order Tuesday saying he will question the juror to determine if his alleged misconduct — as asserted by the defense — mandates overturning Goodman's conviction.

If the judge lets the conviction stand, Goodman will learn his fate. Legal pundits expect a lengthy prison sentence in the 15- to 20-year range.

The newest allegation of jury misconduct came Thursday when the Sun Sentinel reported that juror Dennis DeMartin, 68, of Delray Beach conducted a drinking experiment the night before deliberations that helped convince him to vote for guilty.

Jurors are prohibited from conducting their own research or investigations. Colbath had cautioned jurors to that effect twice during the two-week trial.

In a 33-page self-published book DeMartin wrote about his experiences, he detailed that he wanted to know what effect three drinks would have had on Goodman the night of the fatal crash that killed 23-year-old Scott Wilson.

There was witness testimony during the trial establishing Goodman had three drinks before the crash.

So DeMartin drank three vodka tonics, writing that it helped him make up his mind that Goodman was not fit to drive. He wrote that the other five jurors reached the same conclusion during the deliberations, but he also emphasized that he made up his mind the night before.

Goodman's defense team, including Miami attorney Roy Black, called DeMartin's revelation "egregious" juror misconduct that requires the judge to throw out the March 23 verdict.

Prosecutors filed a brief Tuesday saying DeMartin was not prohibited from drinking, that it would be part of the experience of any juror and that it was "harmless error" that did not affect a guilty verdict resulting from overwhelming evidence.

West Palm Beach defense attorney Michelle Suskauer, who serves as a legal analyst on the Goodman case for local and national media, expressed doubts that Colbath will grant a new trial, but said the issues surrounding DeMartin's experiment are troubling.

"Here you have a juror who sat in judgment before deliberations and took information he learned in trial and played with his chemistry set and conducted this experiment," she said. "I truly think the revelation of this information has changed the tide of public opinion as to whether John Goodman got a fair trial."

Goodman was driving his Bentley convertible south on 120th Avenue in Wellington, at 63 mph, when he ran a stop sign at Lake Worth Road, smashing into Wilson's Hyundai and flipping it into a canal, where Wilson drowned.

The crash happened about 1 a.m. on Feb. 12, 2010, after Goodman — founder of Polo Club International Palm Beach — had been drinking at two Wellington watering holes that cater to the polo community. Three hours later, his blood-alcohol level was measured at .177 percent, more than twice the legal limit.